The Skybound blog provides a first look at the brick-thick Walking Dead Compendium hardcover, which collects the first 48 issues of the acclaimed horror series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. Although the 1,000-plus page volume, complete with gold-embossed logo and new cover illustration by Adlard, won’t be widely available until Comic-Con International, about 100 copies will be offered this weekend for $100 each at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle (Booth #310).

Titled “Pure Sass,” this show at Seattle’s Bauhaus Books & Coffee promises to be a rare glimpse inside the frenetic mind and creativity of Lewis’ work. Although it’s taken six years for Lewis to finish his sequel to Sharknife, he’s put out a number of mini-comics, ashcans, posters, webcomics and surprising guest appearances in a number of comics and magazines. From his unlikely comics debut doing a cover for Marvel’s Captain Marvel #35 in 2002 to the present, seeing his artwork all in one place — and all originals — sounds like a modern-day comics archeological find. Now I just got to find a cheap flight to Seattle.

The 80-page book is limited to 1,150 copies and proceeds go to the Seattle Children’s Hospital. “We’ve created not only a unique collectible that spotlights our show’s amazing and diverse roster of artists, animators and illustrators,” said ECCC Convention Director Jim Demonakos in a press release, “but also something that allows us to give back to our local community by raising thousands of dollars each year for Seattle Children’s Hospital. It’s pretty special.”

Comics have covered a variety of subjects, but in a unique new webcomic strip by Brad Guigar and Chris Giarrusso, comics themselves are the subject. Launched earlier this week, Tales From The Con aims to give a humorous look at the ins and outs of comic conventions and the unique vagaries of these fan-driven events. Another interesting facet of the webcomic is that it’s originating from the website of a convention itself — Emerald City Comicon.

“Anyone who has exhibited at a comic convention has a great story about the experience — some funny, some frustrating, some bizarre — and that makes for great comics,” said Brad Guigar in a press release. “Combined, Chris and I probably have 20 years of conventions under our belts. Not only is this a terrific chance to share some of that, but it’s a unique way to connect it to one of the premiere comic conventions in America, the Emerald City Comicon.”

According to Guigar, convention director Jim Demonakos approached him about this project without knowing Guigar had briefly mentioned this sort of thing in an earlier interview with GammaSquad as an ideal compliment to a publisher’s website.

ECCC and the creators plan to post a new installment of Tales From The Con every Thursday on the convention’s website. I expect con crud jokes early and often.

Comics | Frank Miller says he has finished his upcoming graphic novel, Holy Terror, which is due from Legendary Comicsin September. The book, which once was set to feature Batman fighting terrorism, now stars a character called The Fixer: “I took Batman as far as anyone, and this guy is just not him. He’s been playing the crime fighter to stay in shape. What he really wants to do is fight terrorism. He knew the day would come. The story is essentially New York under attack by suicide bombers and our hero is out to find out their greater scheme. He’s much more a man of action than a detective. He’s a two-fisted Dirty Harry type, really.”[Hero Complex]

Comics | Calling it a “sick magazine comic strip depicting shootings in schools,” The Daily Mail reports on “Beat My Score,” written by UK comedian Jimmy Carr with art by Ryusuke Hamamoto. The reporter says the comic, which appears in the latest issue of Mark Millar’s CLiNT magazine, “will horrify the families of school shooting tragedies such as Dunblane and Columbine with his ultra-violent story.” CLiNT responded by saying the strip is “a nihilistic satirical sideswipe at the glamourisation of violence, tackling the difficult and disturbing effects as seen in school shootings around the world.” The comments are fun. [Daily Mail]

One of the most thrilling parts of attending conventions is meeting the people who make the books you love. And especially great is artist’s alley, where creators show off a range of art from special editions, sketchbooks and, in some cases, pieces drawn before your eyes. And although I wasn’t able to attend Emerald City Comicon this year, seeing the steady stream of artwork produced for fans there and put online is still a thrill.

Take, for example, Chris Samnee, a prolific artist who’s bounced around the industry for the past few years before settling in at Marvel, thanks to the critical success of Thor: The Mighty Avenger. After finishing the final issue of that series, Samnee has being doing some short-term gigs such as last week’s issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. Although his next major project hasn’t been announced yet, his sketches from ECCC show he’s ready for … well, anything!

Comics | A July house fire in Minneapolis that killed homeowner Gary Dahlberg spared his meticulously preserved comic-book collection, which experts say could be worth $1 million. The comics, which includes first issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Daredevil, will be sold at auction on May 5 by Heritage Auction Galleries, with the money going to Dahlberg’s estate. “To go for the really big money they have to be really perfect, and that what these are,” says Barry Sandoval of Heritage Auction Galleries. “The comics look like they just rolled off the printing press and nobody’s ever touched them.” [KSTP TV, with video]

Crime | A 17-year-old boy accused of attempting to rob Fun 4 All Comics & Games in Ypsilanti, Mich., on Monday has been arraigned on charges of assault with attempt to rob while armed and attempted larceny. Police say the teen, wearing a blond wig, bandanna and dark glasses, gave an employee a list of merchandise — “most, if not all, of it Yu-Gi-Oh! cards” — then opened his coat to reveal what appeared to be an improvised explosive device. The boy allegedly threatened to detonate the bomb if he wasn’t given the merchandise. When the employee yelled for the owner to call police, then teen said he was only joking, then bought some inexpensive items and left the store. The sheriff’s department later arrested the teen in his car in a Burger King parking lot. The Michigan State Police bomb squad responded, and determined the potential explosive device was inert. [AnnArbor.com]

On any other day this would have been the very first thing I wrote about, but I figured you may have already been aware, thanks to the high-pitched wails of “NOOOOOOOOOO” that echoed throughout Twitterdom when the news broke Saturday at Emerald City Comicon: Artist Guy Davis is leaving B.P.R.D. The current B.P.R.D: Hell on Earth: Gods miniseries will mark the end of Davis’s run as the regular artist for the core Hellboy spinoff, which along with its parent title formed the heart of the “Mignolaverse.” Newcomer Tyler Crook will take over as the book’s artist with the subsequent arc, Monsters — his second-ever comic from a major publisher. Davis himself will focus on his creator-owned title The Marquis and other projects. Click the links for CBR’s interviews with both artists on the changeover.

Oni Press and nerdcore rapper Adam WarRock have teamed up to create The Oni Press Mixtape, which features musical tracks by WarRock inspired by Stumptown, Queen & Country, The Sixth Gun, Hopeless Savages and several other Oni titles.

In addition, it features “interlude” tracks with creators such as Greg Rucka, Cullen Bunn, Jen Van Meter and Jarrett Williams, who created the artwork for the album. It can be downloaded for free from Adam WarRock’s website. And if you’re in Seattle this weekend, Adam WarRock will perform tracks from his new album at Kracklefest during the Emerald City ComiCon. The concert also features Kirby Krackle and H2Awesome.

Although I’ve never been to the Emerald City Comicon itself, I dig the artwork they get for the Monsters & Dames art book. Case in point: the above illustration by Guy Davis.

This year’s book once again benefits Seattle Children’s Hospital, and includes contributions from Geof Darrow, Cully Hamner, Humberto Ramos, Frank Cho, Yanick Paquette, Skottie Young, Aaron Lopresti, Cliff Chiang, Mike McKone and many more. After the jump you’ll find their official PR, along with a few more images.

Guitar picks from the Kirby Krackle concert at Emerald City ComiCon (photo by George Tramountanas)

Among the highlights of Emerald City ComiCon was the Sunday concert by Seattle-based “nerd rock band” Kirby Krackle (Kyle Stevens and Jim Demonakos) and special guest Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. At the performance, which marked the release of the band’s sophomore album E for Everyone, attendees were given these nifty Marvel-branded guitar picks that bear the mysterious acronym “O.M.I.T.” (Anyone have a guess what it stands for?)

Look for more images from the concert and the convention later this afternoon in Comic Book Resource’s Emerald City ComiCon photo parade.

Laura Hudson at ComicsAlliance reports from the DC Nation panel that occurred earlier today. We already know that animated star Batman Beyond is set to appear in this year’s Superman/Batman annual, written by Paul Levitz. According to editor Ian Sattler, the annual will be out in June and will feature Superman Beyond as well. And a new Batman Beyond series kicks off that month.

At that same panel, Geoff Johns also confirmed that the JSA would appear again on Smallville toward the end of the season. “The hope is for every DC character to appear outside the comic book. Correctly,” Johns said.

And James Robinson is working on a new Shade series. Previously he told iFanboy he’d love to explore Opal City in the form of a Shade series.

Laura also reports on the Mondo Marvel panel that occurred in Seattle. Although there were no announcements, they did talk about the recent Tea Bagger controversy in Captain America, how the Disney/Marvel merger was going and, as always, “One More Day.”

iFanboy reports on some of Oni’s news from the show. Guerillas by Brahm Revel is moving from Image to Oni, with a first volume collection due in October. In July they’ll release a new graphic novel called Super Pro K.O.! by Jarrett Williams, described as “Shonen Jump meets high-impact, old-school wrastlin’.” And Phil Gelatt and Tyler Crook’s Petrograd comes out in November. I spoke with Gelatt about the book last summer, when it was announced at SDCC.

As reported on CBR, Hack/Slash is moving from Devil’s Due to Image. “…it became pretty clear that the pretty well [publicized] financial problems DDP was having weren’t going to help me get my book out every month or help me get my creators paid on time,” creator Tim Seeley told CBR. “I’ve been working with Image on my other creator-owned stuff like “Loaded Bible” and “Colt Noble and the Megalords,” and I’ve always had great experiences working with [Image Comics Publisher] Eric Stephenson and [Sales and Licensing Coordinator] Joe Keatinge and the rest of the crew. And, most of the comics I read and enjoy every month come out of Image. So, with the help of DDP president Josh Blaylock, I set up a deal to bring Cassie and Vlad over to Image.”

Heidi MacDonald reports that next year’s Emerald City Comicon will run three days. They’ll also run a one-day show called the Jet City Comic Show in September.

BOOM! Studios sent out a trio of press releases this afternoon in conjunction with their announcements from the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle this weekend.

As noted on CBR this afternoon, Darkwing Duck is joining the BOOM! Kids line, written by my buddy Ian Brill and drawn by James Silvani. Big props to Ian on writing his first four-issue mini-series.

The Amory Wars moves from Image to BOOM! in May, as Coheed & Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez teams with comics writer Peter David for The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. The 12-issue maxi-series ties into the release of Coheed & Cambria’s album Year of the Black Rainbow, due out in April. BOOM! will also release The Amory Wars Ultimate Edition, which collects the previous Amory Wars tales published by Image.

“Working with Claudio has been an absolute revelation in terms of Coheed and Cambria’s popularity,” said David. “I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve encountered people who don’t read X-Factor, never heard of Fallen Angel, but I mention that I’m working with Claudio and they instantly declare their undying love for all things C&C. They start rattling off titles, song lyrics, and they absolutely cannot wait to get their hands on the next installment of Claudio’s epic science fiction vision. For those fans who have been waiting years for this new comic series, the wait is over. For anyone who’s going to be entering Claudio’s world for the first time, welcome to Heaven’s Fence.”

Finally, this May BOOM! will release 7 Psychopaths, written by Fabien Vehlmann with art by Sean Phillips of Criminal fame. Originally published by Delcourt in France under the title Seven Psychos, the World War II story is about seven psychos charged with killing Hitler.

“7 Psychopaths is probably the most difficult story I’ve ever drawn,” said Phillips. “Nine or ten panel pages, having to find reference for everything I had to draw, drawing a type of story I’d never tackled before, it was hard work. Many times I wondered if it was worth the effort. Then I started to receive jpegs of Hubert’s coloured pages, and it was definitely worth it. He’s made it look like a book drawn by someone who knew what he was doing! It seemed as if I could do Fabien’s great story justice after all.”

The Emerald City Comicon, scheduled for March 13-14 in Seattle, is once again putting together a charity art book featuring pin-ups of “Monsters & Dames” by some of its very impressive guest list. Proceeds from the book benefit the Seattle Children’s Hospital.